New Director of the Besrour Centre

Français

Dear colleagues,

On behalf of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), it is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Dr. David Ponka to the role of Director of the Besrour Centre as of September 4, 2019.

Dr. Ponka is well known to the Besrour community and the CFPC family. He has served as the centre’s research director and is currently the Chair of the Besrour Centre Advisory Council.

A family doctor in Ottawa, Dr. Ponka is also an associate professor with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Over the course of his career he has gained extensive experience in caring for vulnerable and migrant populations in Canada and abroad, including having worked in Haiti, Chad and Panama. He continues work in Guyana where he supports the integration of research into the new discipline of family medicine. He has served as a medical adviser to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and is a member of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Knowledge Translation and Health Technology Assessment in Health Equity.

Dr. Ponka’s leadership will help the Besrour Centre achieve its mission of fostering collaboration to advance family medicine around the world through medical education and training, advocacy, and research.

A medical graduate of McGill University, Dr. Ponka proudly holds his CCFP (EM) and FCFP Special Designations. He completed a master of science in international primary care at the University of London and is fluently bilingual in English and French.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ponka on his appointment and extending a warm welcome to him as a key member of the CFPC’s leadership team.

Sincerely,

Eric Mang
Executive Director, Member and External Relations
College of Family Physicians of Canada